--- title: Black Power Salute: Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics description: On the anniversary of John Carlos and Tommie Smith's Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, LIFE.com remembers with a classic photo. canonical: https://time.com/3880999/black-power-salute-tommie-smith-and-john-carlos-at-the-1968-olympics/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-27T16:57:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:36.559Z og:title: Black Power Salute: Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics og:description: On the anniversary of John Carlos and Tommie Smith's Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, LIFE.com remembers with a classic photo. og:url: https://time.com/3880999/black-power-salute-tommie-smith-and-john-carlos-at-the-1968-olympics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320542ecf9472d14/69884ab78e06010ea645fe7a/219408.jpg?branch=production&width=656&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 656 og:image:height: 369 og:image:alt: 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith, John Carlos og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Black Power Salute: Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics twitter:description: On the anniversary of John Carlos and Tommie Smith's Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, LIFE.com remembers with a classic photo. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320542ecf9472d14/69884ab78e06010ea645fe7a/219408.jpg?branch=production&width=656&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Black Power Salute That Rocked the 1968 Olympics > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Sep 27, 2014 4:57 PM UTC  Gold medalist Tommie Smith (center) and bronze medalist John Carlos (right) raise black-gloved fists during the American national anthem at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Australian sprinter Peter Norman, who won silver in the 200 meters and supported Carlos and Smith's protest, stands at left. Gold medalist Tommie Smith (center) and bronze medalist John Carlos (right) raise black-gloved fists during the American national anthem at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Australian sprinter Peter Norman, who won silver in the 200 meters and supported Carlos and Smith's protest, stands at left. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Sep 27, 2014 4:57 PM UTC When Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood atop the medal podium at the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City, bowed their heads and raised black-gloved fists during the playing of the national anthem, millions of their fellow Americans were outraged. But countless millions more around the globe thrilled to the sight of two men standing before the world, unafraid, expressing disillusionment with a nation that so often fell, and still falls, so short of its promise. In tribute to Smith, Carlos and every other athlete—Eric Liddell, Curt Flood, [Sandy Koufax](http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2010/09/god-vs-the-world-series-sandy-koufaxs-yom-kippur-sacrifice/63094/) and on and on—who has acted on principle in a highly public way, LIFE.com presents John Dominis’s indelible portrait of that moment. [\[See more of John Dominis’s amazing photography\]](http://life.time.com/culture/john-dominis-celebrating-the-work-of-a-master-photographer/#1) Smith and Carlos (both of whom are National Track and Field Hall of Famers) were vilified at home for their stand. They were suspended from the U.S. team. They received death threats. But neither man ever apologized for his raised fist or his bowed head—and neither ever had need to. “We were just human beings who saw a need to bring attention to the inequality in our country,” Smith said years later, in a documentary on the 1968 Mexico City games produced for HBO. “I don’t like the idea of people looking at it as negative. There was nothing but a raised fist in the air and a bowed head, acknowledging the American flag—not symbolizing a hatred for it.” Finally, it’s worth noting that the Australian silver medalist in the 200 meters in 1968, Peter Norman, stood solidly with Smith and Carlos, both literally and figuratively—displaying his solidarity with their action by wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge during the medal ceremony. Four decades later, in 2006, both Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at Norman’s funeral. “We knew that what we were going to do was far greater than any athletic feat,” [Carlos was quoted as saying at the time](http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/tell-your-kids-about-peter-norman/2006/10/09/1160246071527.html). “\[Peter\] said, ‘I’ll stand with you.'” Carlos expected to see fear in Peter Norman’s eyes before the medal ceremony, when there was no turning back from what they were about to do. But he didn’t see fear. “I saw love,” he said. [\[MORE: Read Madison Gray’s 2010 interview with John Carlos on TIME.com\]](http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/10/16/john-carlos-looking-back-at-a-raised-fist-and-at-a-raised-consciousness/)  Gold medalist Tommie Smith (center) and bronze medalist John Carlos (right) raise black-gloved fists during the American national anthem at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Australian sprinter Peter Norman, who won silver in the 200 meters and supported Carlos and Smith's protest, stands at left. 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